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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Year of the Dragon - Happy Lunar New Year

It's time to celebrate New Year again - the Lunar calender's first day of the 2012 Year of the Dragon is tomorrow and as always, the City of Sydney has festivities galore throughout the city.

Over this (somewhat wet) weekend, the Chinese New Year Markets are being held in Belmore Park between Central Station and Chinatown, from 11am to 10pm. Food stalls are particularly abundant, in addition to performances on the main stage and other market stalls.

Alvin Quah (right) and Joanna Savill (left) in the Chinese New Year AYAM Kitchen

Regular cooking demonstrations in the AYAM Kitchen feature the likes of Adam Liaw and Alvin Quah from MasterChef, whipping up traditional and modern takes on Chinese New Year foods. Here Alvin mentioned snapper, which probably tends on the less traditional side.

Chinese New Year Markets main entertainment stage

Even in the wet and soggy conditions yesterday, the main stage drew crowds to watch performances celebrating the New Year and various cultures. The Chinese Youth League dragon dance was particularly lively, and presumably much more difficult than it appears.

Dragon boat formation as part of the dragon dance

They dealt with the limited stage space fairly well, but truly entertained the crowds with a unique dragon boat formation as part of the dance.

Chinese Youth League dragon dance team

Chinese fan dancers

Chinese fan dancers - love the enthusiam of these ladies

Medibank red packet tree

Medibank red packet game

The Medibank stall played on the theme of luck and prosperity with the chance to win prizes on its red packet tree by selecting a single packet, as well as being a pretty and festive sight.

The Medibank stall is certainly popular

St.George Bank Happy Dragon game

On games and winning, St.George Bank also had a stall in the Laughing Clowns sideshow game fashion; the clowns replaced by their mascot dragon. I couldn't resist an attempt to win a soft dragon toy, resplendent in traditional Chinese garb, but made away with a plastic golden dragon money box instead.

There are plenty of options for food (the large Sichuan food stall looked interesting) and lots to celebrate, so head on down to Belmore Park for the last day of the Chinese New Year Markets - more details here.

I just went to a local festival today as well (yesterday now since it's past midnight) and it was so full of people it was crazy! It was scorching day too and I almost got dehydrated. It was very fun though :)

Hi Tina, I read this with interest as I'm a fellow Inner Westie with a Chinese Medicine blog http://rosanabouzas@blogspot.comI'm a Newtown based acupuncturist with an interest in all things Chinese and a bit of a foodie myself. I will follow your blog and look forward to your posts. All the best for 2012, Rosana